Giants Bash Blazers
Rnd 1: Game 2: Vancouver 6 Kamloops 3
Don Robinson
The Blazers opened the scoring with a goal they should not have got, but the Giants took that back the next shift, gutting out the goal on the doorstep. The Blazers went ahead again on a PP late in the second, cashing in on very nice cross crease pass. The Giants then cashed in on the PP, tying then going ahead in the second and padding the lead in the third. The Giants added two more in the first five minutes of the third, before giving up their second soft one of the night. We still didn’t get playoff level officiating tonight as the calls were very inconsistent and some blatant trips and hooks were not called while some seriously soft versions of the same were. It wasn’t the travesty that Herman called, but it wasn’t mostly invisible, calling only the essential calls which is what playoff reffing has to be. The Giants dominated on the cycle and were in possession of the puck more often than they were without tonight, as they were last night.
The Blazers opened the scoring as Brendan Ranford took advantage of Mark Segal’s confusion, moving to the wrong side of the net. Ranford slipped the puck in easily off a scrum in the front. Craig Cunningham got that one back going hard to the net. Brendan Gallagher and Lance Bouma worked hard to get the puck on Mucha. The teams went into the break tied 1-1. Bouma drove the net creating a loose puck for Cunner. CJ Stretch capitalised on the PP late in the second potting a nice cross-crease pass that saw the Giants standing around in their own end of the ice. Gallagher got his first of the playoffs on the PP going hard to the net and pounding home a loose puck after that, assisted by Cunningham and Neil Manning. Kevin Connauton got his first of two PP markers with less than a minute left in the middle frame, sending his team into the break carrying the momentum. No fisticuffs in this one, there were some nice hard checks on both sides of the puck, but it was series of hits on a shift early in the third by the Giants that changed the whole complexion of the game.
Kevin Connauton scored his second PP goal of the game at 2:51 of the third. Once again Gallagher and Cunningham got the helpers. Cunningham used Nathan Burns as a decoy going into the zone 2 on 1. Cunningham ripped the puck top corner on the short side. Burns got the only helper. James Henry who played a nice hardnosed game all night got a nice one off of a JT Barnett feed. The Blazers got one back the next shift when Dalibor Bortnak put an extremely weak one through Segal. The Giants goalie is very, very lucky that his team put up the numbers tonight because he could easily have been blamed for a loss in a lower scoring game. Don Hay played his depth players for most of the rest of the period. Even when he played his top players, they were frequently paired with third and fourth liners, giving those players some real ice-time and opportunities they might not normally get. For me this is why Don Hay is an elite coach. Rewarding players who have worked hard with extra ice-time, recognizing when players are on a roll and understanding how valuable its is for a Lyon, or Burns, or Henke to play with the Boumas, Wrights, Gallaghers and Cunninghams on the team. Everybody elevates. Now - if they only had solid goal tending they could be real contenders, but I am still pessimistic about their chances deeper into the playoffs.
The Giants out shot the Blazers 36-24 and were finally able to get their PP engaged, going 3 for 7 with the man-advantage. The Blazers were almost held off of the special teams score sheet going 1 for 6. A much better game from the Giants tonight and few better fortunes going their way. Segal was still very suspect, but he made some decent down low saves. If the Blazers ever start coming out from behind the net and shooting high though… watch out. I really can’t understand why Bonner didn’t deal a pick for a 20 year old ‘tender like Mucha when he saw that his goaltending situation was not great. The G’s are getting wins in spite of what Segal does, as opposed to because of what he does for them, which is what an elite goalie accomplishes. Anyway, the series moves up the Coquihalla to Kamloops for games 3 and 4. The Giants won two shootout games and lost the other two in the Blazers barn and they will need to have a much better start if they hope to get the sweep.
Cunningham has become a monster player, getting his 3rd and 4th goals tonight and adding three assists to the mix for a five-point outing. Getting Bouma back has also been a godsend for the Giants as he is bringing an intense game every shift. Gallagher had four points scoring a goal and adding three helpers tonight. Game 3 takes place on Tuesday March 23 and Game 4 Wednesday March 24. The puck drops at 7pm both nights. It’ll be interesting to see how the Blazers bounce back with some home-ice energy behind them. The Giants will need to continue to dominate their play with the puck, keep it away from their net and really press to get to those rebounds Mucha has been leaving. All games for this series are being shown on Shaw Cable.
Three Stars
1. Craig Cunningham
2. Brendan Gallagher
3. Kevin Connauton
Rnd 1 Game 2: Giants 6 Blazers 3 Mar 20 2010
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